Manifold valve



Mardl 1940- J. 5. ABERCROMBIE El Al. 6

MANIFOLD VALVE Filed Dec. 27, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet l LIEJ...

INVENTOR.

JSABERcROMmE. BYHERBERT ALLEN.

Mam}! 1940- J. 5. ABERCROMBIE El AL 4 MANIFOLD VALVE Filed Dec. 27, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet '2 EEL INVENTOR. JSABERcRonmE QERBE RT ALLEN Mad! 1940- J. s. ABERCROMBIE ET AL 2,194,264

"ANIFOLD VALVE Filed Dec. 27, 19257 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 L'EEfLEu INVENTOR. J. 5.ABERCROMBIE HERBERT ALLEN.

BY my g T%Yfi.

Patented Mar. 19, 1940 James s. Aberoronibie and Herbert new... Ten; said Allen assignor to said Abercrombic Application December at, 937, Serial No. 181,832

8 Claims. (01. z51 -1s9) The invention relates to a manifold valve which is particularly adapted for use in .well drilling operations to close of! enormous pressures at the well head.

With valves of this type it is necessary that a perfect seal be maintained and that anexcess or surplus of sealing material be provided to compensate for wear and cutting away in event of leakage. It is, therefore, one of the objects of the invention to provide a valve member which carries an excess of packing material to flow under pressure to any point of leakage.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a valve member with a packing assembly which will flow under pressure to compensate for wear and at the same time be reenforced to withstand enormous pressures.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a seat for a valve which carries a resilient go packing which can flow under pressure to compensate for wear..

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pair of cooperating seats on' a valve and the valve member both of which carry a compensating g5 packing to prevent leakage. I

Still another object of the invention is to provide a valve member construction wherein a resilient packing is held thereon in position to flow under pressure.

30 Still another object of the invention is to provide a resilient packing for valve members through which the pressure on the face 01' the valve member may be equalized.

It is also an object of the invention to provide 35 a composite valve or ram member which is made up of a plurality of packings and reenforcings therefor which are slidably arranged upon a body member.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a seat construction and the valve member to contact said seat, both of which are provided with a reserve of packing material which can flow under pressure to maintain a seal.

Other and further objects of the invention will 5 be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a valve with the member in open position.

50 Fig. 2 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 1 but,

showing the valve member closed.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the valve member with one quarter cut away to illustrate the arrangement oi the parts. Fig. 4 is a top plan view looking down on the packing-with the annular ring portion spaced away from the main body of the packing.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form. of the valve construction wherein a com- 1 pensating seat has been provided to cooperate .1 with the valve member in providing a seal.

Fig. Bis a similar view to Fig. 5 but shows a removable cap for the insertion of the compensating seat. 4

In Fig. 1 the valve housing is illustrated generally at 2 and has a vertical passage 3 therethrough. The support and other. fittings for the valve may be connected-at the threaded ends 4 thereof. The passage 3 is enlarged at 6 in order to provide for the transverse movement of the valve member I, which is slidably mounted within the chamber 8, which is formed in the lateral extension 9 of the housing 2. The extension 9 is closed by abonnet III, which may be threaded thereon at H and arranged to overlie the end of the extension to protect the parts. This bonnet holds a closure plate [2 in place against the end i3 of the extension and also confines a collar l4, which is fixed on the spindle i6. An anti-friction bearing I1 is provided inside of the end of the bonnet id to absorb u the axial thrust .on the spindle which occurs upon applying pressure to the valve member I. A

connection id for the insertion of lubricant into the bonnet around the collar l4 has been provided.

The valve housing 2 is provided with an outstanding seat 20; which is spaced from the main portion of the body by the recess 2i above and below the seat. A restricted area or choke 22 is provided beyond the recesses 2| sothat when the end of the valve member has moved into the socket portion 23 of the valve body the flow of. the fluidpast the seat will be restricted to the choke portions 22. The general arrangement of this choke construction is disclosed in our 00-. pending application Serial No. 62,267, flied Febru- 0 ary 4, 1936, for a Drilling valve, which has resulted inPatent No. 2,162,990, granted June 20, 1939. I

Particular attention is directed to the valve or ram construction, as seen in perspective view in Fig. 3, wherein the valve body 30 is in the form of 5 an enlarged cap 3| and a sleeve 32 of lesser diameter which projects forwardly therefrom. A shoulder 33 is thus provided and serves as a seat for a packing ring 34 which encircles the sleeve 32. This packing ring is arranged to seal against the inside periphery of the chamber 8 and may be provided with suitable reenforcing rings 35, so that it will resist excessive expansion.

This packing ring 34 is arranged to be expanded due to the pressure of the valve head 21, which is u slidably arranged upon the sleeve 32 by the provision of the recess 36 within the head. A longitudinal groove 36 is provided to receive a retainer pin to prevent relative rotation of the valve member in the housing 6. The rear of the cap 36 carlies a shoulder 46, which abuts the packing 34, so that as the body 36 of the valve is moved forward, if the head 31 contacts an object or the seat 26, then of course, the head 31 will slide on the sleeve 32 and in this manner suitable pressure is applied to the packing 34 to maintain a seal inside of the chamber 6.

This head 31 is of peculiar construction in that it is provided with a transverse slot 42 across its forward face and this slot extends downwardly along the edges in the form of a groove 43. This groove extends to the rear end 46 of the head. The slot and groove are arranged to receive a packing assembly 45 which is best seen in Fig. 4. This packing assembly is made up of a packing body 46 which has a leg 41 extending rearwardly from each edge thereof. The body 46 fits in the slot 42 and'the legs 41 fit into the groove 43. Thus the head 31 tends to completely confine this packing assembly in cooperation with the walls of the chamber 6. The packing assembly 45 is suitably reenforced by the tenons 56, one of which is provided at each side of the body 46 and extends through the leg 41. These tenons are inwardly inclined at their forward ends and provided with a transverse extension 5| which projects vertically through the body 46. The rear of each tenon has an outstanding finger 53 so as to reenforce the rear of the legs 41. In addition to this an inwardly extending lug 55 projects through an opening 56 in the sleeve 32. The opening 56 is somewhat elongated so as to allow some sliding movement of the lug 56 due to the flowing of the packing material and compression of the ring 34.

The body 56 is provided with a longitudinal passage which receives a nipple 66 to provide a bypass or equalizing passage 6| which extends into the recess 38 in the head 51, A suitable connecting passage 62 is formed in the head 31 at the base of the slot 42, as seen in Fig. 3. This nipple 60 extends to the forward face 63 of the packing assembly.

In order to hold the nipple 66 in proper alignment and to reenforce the packing body 56 a vertical stud 64 is positioned within the packing body and retains the nipple 60. The top and bottom faces of the packing body 46 are reenforced and confined by the retainer plates 61. These plates are best seen in Fig. 4 as being of a configuration to overlie a substantial part of the top and bottom faces of the body 46 and they are provided with slots 66 to receive the transverse extensions 5| on the tenons 50, and they also receive the stud 64. As seen in Fig. 3, the front face 63 of the packing and the plate 61 project in front of the face 66 of the head 31. In order to provide for an equal amount of packing material at the center and around the nipple 66 the plates 61 are grooved at 16.

A seal ring 13 is positioned about the stem l6 and against the inside surface of the plate I2, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, and this ring is formed with a recessed face 14 to receive a complementary face on the rear of the cap 36. In this manner, as seen in Fig. 1, when the valve member is in open position it may be forced against the packing 13 to insure a seal and to prevent leakage under high pressure.

The cap is also provided with a plurality of ports 11 which communicate with the interior of the sleeve 32 so as to form part of the arrangement for equalizing the pressure in the chamber 6 behind the valve member, so that it may be readily operated even though high pressures are being encountered.

In Fig. 2 the valve is shown in closed position with the forward face 63 of the packing and the plates 61 in engagement with the seat 26.- The forward face 66 of the valve head has just moved into the recess 23 and has placed the chokes 22 into operation. Thus the volume of fluid passing the valve member as it moves onto the seat 26 is restricted and even this pressure can be equalized through the passage 6|.

As pressure is applied by rotation of the spindle l6 the cap 36 is forced'forwardly and transmits pressure through the packing ring 34 to the rear of, the cap 31. This tends to move the cap forwardly but inasmuch as the packing assembly is restrained from further movement by its engagement with the seat 26 it seems clear that the packing will be urged forwardly between the plates 61 due to the fact that it is completely confined. The pressure thus applied will flow throughout the packing body 46 and the legs 41 as well as the ring 34 so that a uniform pressure will be applied to all of the areas inside of the valve housing and across the seat 26. In event any of the packing on the forward face 63 of the body should be worn away there will be an immediate distribution of the pressure due to the fact that the packing is capable of flowing under pressure so long as pressure is applied to the valve member by the spindle l6. If there is a wearing away of the forward portion of the packing additional material will be extruded forwardly between the plates 61 to compensate for that which has disappeared.

It seems obvious from the foregoing that the pressure is resiliently applied to the cap 31 and that due to the arrangement of the packing a uniform seal will be maintained between all of the parts and that the packing will be properly confined so that enormous pressures may be applied to it to maintain a seal.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a slightly modified form of valve in which the same general type of construction is utilized insofar as the valve member is concerned. A particular type of valve seat has been provided in Figs. 5 and 6 however in that the valve. body 2 has been arranged with a chamber 66 which is to receive a resilient valve seat assembly 6|. Instead of providing the rigid seat 26 as previously described the assembly 6| is inserted in the chamber 60 and the forward face 63 of the valve as well as the plates 61 are arranged to abut against this assembly 6|.

The assembly 6| includes a body of packing material 63 which has a forwardly extending tongue portion 64 thereon. The beveled portions 65 join the tongue with the body 63. Positioned above and below the tongues 64 and the retainer blocks 66 which are of a configuration to fit the tongue, the bevel 6| and the front face of the body 63. These blocks are held against displacement by' the set screws 61 and their forward faces are substantially flush with the forward face of the tongue 64. The choke portions 22 may be provided here as previously described.

It seems obvious that the blocks 66 have relative sliding movement so that when pressure is applied to them they will move to the left, as seen in Fig. 5, so as to apply pressure to the packing body 63. In view of the resilient nature of this ing between said head and body.

packing material there will be a tendency for the packing material to flow forward into the tongue 84 and to extrude this packing material in this manner.

It will be seen that the tongue 84 is of such a thickness that it corresponds to the packing body 46 in the valve member and that the plates 61 engage against the blocks 86, so that any pressure applied to the valve member I will also be applied to the blocks provided the same as though two valve or ram members 1 were abutting each other. In this manner there is a resilient packing member both on the seat and the valve member and this packing is completely confined by the reenforcing plates 61 and the blocks 86. This arrangement provides an enormous amount of surplus packing material to compensate for wear.

Fig. 6 shows a construction similar to that of Fig. 5 except that the recess is closed by a cap plate 90, which is held in position by the cap screws 9|. In lieu of set screws 81, however, a shoulder 92 has been provided in the chamber 80 so that the blocks 86 may abut against the shoulder and in this manner be restrained from inward movement amount. They are, however, free to move rearwardly or to the left, as seen in the drawings,

when pressure is applied to the valve member I.

What is claimed is:

l. A valve housing, an outstanding seat therein, a valve packing to contact said seat, a valve head to cooperate with said housing and seat to completely confine said packing, and means to.

apply pressure to said head, said means including a resilient packing.

2. A valve member comprising an assembly of a valve body, a sleeve thereon, a valve head about said sleeve and slidable thereon, a resilient packand a second 86 and in effect a seal is beyond a predetermined memand a reeniorcing tenon in each leg extending into said body.

5-. A packing assembly for valve or ram members comprising a body, legs on said body, a reenforcing tenon in each leg extending into said body and a reenforcing stud transversely of said body.

6. A packing assembly for valve or ram members comprising a body, legs on said body, a reenforcing tenon in each leg extending into said body, a reenforcing stud transversely of said body, and a bypass through said body to equalize the pressure on the front and rear of said packing.

'7. The combination of a valve housing and seat, a valve member, a sealing face carried by said member to abut said seat, and a bypass extending from said face and through said member to equalize the pressures on said member.

8. A valve including a housing, a vertical passage therethru, a single valve member movable entirely across such passage, a recess in said housing to receive the end of said member, a stationary packing provide a seat for the end said assembly including a terial, rigid means in said recess and carried by said packing, said means being slidable in said recess by pressure from said valve member to displace the packing to seal with said valve member.

of said valve member, resilient packing ma- HERBERT ALLEN. JAMES S. ABERCROMBIE.

assembly in said recess to 

